Jongno Commuter Diner · 46 stories

Dinner Detour

I write about restaurants I visit in Seoul and the meals I have there. · Writes about: Restaurants · Cafés

PlaceJongno, SeoulCafés

Ikseon-dong bakery after Insa-dong: garlic, mugwort & walnut, Munhwa

Munhwa Bakery (문화제빵) is a small bakery on Donhwamun-ro in Ikseon-dong, Jongno, Seoul. After a gallery outing in Insa-dong with her husband, the writer took home Munhwa Bakery's garlic bread (6,800 won), mugwort rice cake bread (5,700 won) and walnut bread (3,500 won) to share with warm tea and milk. She found each one distinct: the chewy mugwort rice cake bread, the nutty walnut bread and the garlic bread generously filled with garlic cream. Verdict: if you pick only one at Munhwa Bakery on a first visit, make it the garlic bread.

Written Nov 15, 2026Sponsored
PlaceJongno, SeoulRestaurants

Jonggak sashimi spot after Seoul Museum of Craft Art: Suksseong

Suksseong Susan Jongno Main Branch (숙썽수산 종로본점) is an aged sashimi restaurant on the 3rd floor near Exit 4 of Jonggak Station in Jongno, Seoul. After a date at the Seoul Museum of Craft Art, the writer and her husband had the special kaisendon (seafood rice bowl) set at 1 p.m. on a weekend, 68,000 won for two. They picked through the different sashimi, then finished by mixing minced tuna and raw egg yolk into soy-sauce egg rice. The special kaisendon at Suksseong Susan Jongno Main Branch is a varied Jonggak lunch that runs from single slices of sashimi to a yolk rice bowl.

Written Nov 14, 2026Sponsored
PlaceDongdaemun, SeoulRestaurants

Seoul Korean BBQ near Dapsimni antique arcade: couple's meal, Dwaegal

Dwaeji Galbi Dwaegal Gongmyeong Soba Dapsimni Station Main Branch (돼갈공명소바 답십리역 본점) is a charcoal-grilled pork galbi restaurant near Dapsimni Station in Dongdaemun, Seoul. After browsing moon jars at the Dapsimni antique arcade, a couple ordered 2 portions of marinated pork galbi (600g) and 1 yukhoe bibimbap (seasoned raw beef rice bowl) for ₩50,000 in total, and the sweet galbi, vegetable-packed bibimbap and cool dongchimi (radish water kimchi) made a satisfying combination. For two people, 2 portions of marinated galbi plus 1 yukhoe bibimbap is the order to get at Dwaegal Gongmyeong Soba.

Written Nov 10, 2026Sponsored
PlaceHanam, GyeonggiRestaurants

Hanam Western restaurant: lasagna and Hanwoo striploin for 2, Bokkeriu

Bokkeriu is a Western restaurant on the Han River bank in Misa, Hanam, Gyeonggi. On a weekday evening when she and her husband had both taken the day off, the writer ordered Bokkeriu's steak set for 2 (118,000 won), choosing lasagna as the pasta and the Hanwoo striploin steak medium rare. After dinner, the couple took the stairs in front of the restaurant down to the Han River walking path. Already decorated with a Christmas tree for the holidays, Bokkeriu is a good date spot for couples who want steak and pasta together, followed by a riverside walk.

Written Nov 10, 2026Sponsored
PlaceIcheon, GyeonggiRestaurants

Icheon Korean restaurant after Seolbong Lake: crab ssambap, Neul Gogi

Neul Gogi Jip Icheon Main Branch (늘고기집 이천본점) is a Korean restaurant on Gyeongchung-daero in Icheon, Gyeonggi, serving a lunch-only soy-marinated crab and spicy pork ssambap (lettuce-wrap rice set) for ₩24,900 per person. After a date at Yeongwolam Temple and Seolbong Lake, a couple ordered two sets plus 100g of 1++ grade Korean beef yukhoe (beef tartare) for ₩69,800 in total, with soy-marinated crab, stir-fried pork, doenjang jjigae, pot rice and scorched-rice tea. About 6 minutes by car from Seolbong Park with its own parking, Neul Gogi Jip Icheon Main Branch is an easy lunch stop after an Icheon outing.

Written Nov 8, 2026Sponsored
PlaceJung-gu, SeoulRestaurants

Sindang noodle shop after work, just before sell-out: Guksue Chwihaman

Guksue Chwihaman Sindang Main Branch (국수에 취하맨 신당본점) is a small noodle restaurant near Exit 3 of Sindang Station in Jung-gu, Seoul, serving Jeju-style gogi-guksu (pork noodle soup) and bibim guksu (spicy mixed noodles). The blogger and a friend arrived around 6:10 pm after work and ordered one bowl of each (20,000 won total). Because the meat was almost gone that day, they also got the leftover dombe-gogi (Jeju-style boiled pork slices) for free. Verdict: Guksue Chwihaman Sindang Main Branch serves noodles with plenty of pork for 10,000 won, but check whether ingredients have run out before an evening visit.

Written Nov 8, 2026Sponsored
PlaceJung-gu, SeoulRestaurants

Myeongdong Korean restaurant for a tofu-bossam samhap: Yangjaeok

Yangjaeok Lotte Department Store Main Branch is a pork gomtang (pork bone soup) and bossam (boiled pork slices) Korean restaurant on B1 of Lotte Department Store's main branch, by Euljiro 1-ga (Euljiro-ipgu) Station in Myeongdong, Jung-gu, Seoul. After seeing the Christmas tree and the Charlotte Garden of Light, the blogger and her husband ordered two pork gomtang sets (20,000 won each) and a small bossam (15,000 won) for 55,000 won in total. They ate the clear gomtang three ways (plain, with rice stirred in, and with extra pepper) and piled bossam and kimchi on the set's tofu like a samhap (three-ingredient bite). Yangjaeok Lotte Department Store Main Branch is a good stop when you want a hearty Korean meal after a department-store Christmas date.

Written Nov 5, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSeongdong, SeoulRestaurants

Sindang Station Korean BBQ date with grilled minari: Janghyeungjip

Janghyeungjip Main Branch (장흥집 본점) is a frozen pork belly Korean BBQ restaurant on the first floor of Tenshill Mall on Majang-ro in Seongdong, Seoul, about a 10-minute walk from Sindang Station. After work, the writer and her husband grilled 2 servings of frozen pork belly and 1 serving of frozen pork neck (15,000 won each) with Cheongdo minari (Korean water dropwort), bracken and kimchi, then finished with minari fried rice (3,000 won). With generous side dishes, the fun of grilling vegetables alongside the pork and Cheonggyecheon Stream close by, Janghyeungjip Main Branch makes a great evening date spot.

Written Oct 27, 2026Sponsored
PlaceYongsan, SeoulRestaurants

Yongsan shabu-shabu lunch date before a movie: Shabu in Seoul

Shabu in Seoul Yongsan Main Branch is a shabu-shabu restaurant near Exit 3 of Samgakji Station in Yongsan, Seoul. On a day off before a movie at CGV in Yongsan I'Park Mall, the writer and her husband had the weekday Prime Angus chuck eye lunch (27,000 won) in crab doenjang (soybean paste) broth, finishing with doenjang rice and omija (five-flavor berry) tea. Shabu in Seoul is not cheap, but its upscale atmosphere and filling set made it a satisfying lunch date.

Written Oct 26, 2026Sponsored
PlaceJung-gu, SeoulRestaurants

Sindang chicken restaurant: meat first, noodles after, Gyeryugwan

Gyeryugwan is an oak wood-fired whole chicken and house-made makguksu (buckwheat noodle) restaurant in a Seoul Jungang Market alley near Sindang Station Exit 2, Seoul. Three of us (my husband, a friend and I) arrived just after 5 pm on a weekday, shared the oak neungi wood-fired chicken (22,000 won) and chicken neck tangsuyuk (15,000 won), then followed the 'meat first, noodles after' rule with one noodle bowl each: two mul makguksu and one meat doenjang makguksu (12,000 won each). With its smoky whole chicken stuffed with neungi mushroom sticky rice and a rich yet mild mul makguksu like Pyongyang naengmyeon, Gyeryugwan is a great pick for a get-together with friends or a casual drink.

Written Jun 5, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSongpa, SeoulRestaurants

Summer stamina beef BBQ in Songnidan-gil, Seoul: Sutbul Seonghwa

Sutbul Seonghwa (숯불성화) is an aged beef and whisky charcoal grill in Songnidan-gil, near Exit 1 of Seokchon Station in Songpa, Seoul. On a weekend date, the writer and her husband ordered the 400g Seonghwa platter (snowflake beef, cubed flower rib and wine-marinated rib fingers), Hanwoo doenjang jjigae and Myeongpum Joseon Hyangmi rice; the Chungju oak charcoal and staff grilling the first round made the meal easy. For an atmospheric Songnidan-gil beef date, Sutbul Seonghwa is well worth considering.

Written Jun 15, 2026Sponsored
PlaceSuyeong, BusanRestaurants

Korean BBQ in Gwangalli on a Busan film festival trip: Donbegi

Donbegi Gwang-an Branch (돈베기 광안점) is an aged-pork Korean BBQ restaurant in Millak-dong, Gwangalli, Busan, with a 1st-floor hall and 2nd-floor private rooms you can choose when booking on Naver. On the Sunday evening that ended their 2-day Busan International Film Festival trip, a married couple had the 600g pork omakase (salchi-sal, gabeuri-sal, bamboo cut and al-moksim) plus myeongnan-bap (pollock roe rice) for ₩64,900 in a 2nd-floor room, with staff grilling from start to finish. Donbegi Gwang-an Branch is a quiet Gwangalli date-night dinner spot for comparing special pork cuts while you talk.

Written Oct 16, 2026Sponsored